Kats Claws
by Lady-night-shade04
Summary: Roxanna Bell has been sent to the junk yard after a mission goes array. With far from the reception she expected from the current outcasts she tries to make the best of it. Wanting nothing more then to regain her treads she has to figure out what she is willing to do in order to achieve that dream and figure out what she keeps losing time.
1. Chapter 1

Hello all. I only own my OC but not the SWAT Kats.

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Roxie moved under her blankets, her tail hanging over the side as she dreamed. The light thumping was getting louder, disturbing her sleep. Just as it stopped and she was drifting back into a deeper sleep came a loud banging on her door.

"Roxie, wake up call. Up or I'm getting the hose." Jake called through the door, chuckling quietly as he heard a thud and a moan, imagining the younger cat falling out of bed again. Turning he walked away from the door and down the stairs to his partner as the hatch door closed on the hanger.

"She up?" Chance glanced up as he finished wiping sweat off his face.

"Nope, just woke her up, never even knew we were gone. I do feel kinda bad having to drug her every night, then pounding on the door to wake her up."

"You rather she finds out what we do almost every night?" Jake rolled his eyes and finished zipping up his junk man suit as he opened the main shop. Behind them they heard Roxanna walking down to the office, putting her hair up.

Roxie looked over seeing them talking quietly to each other and rolled her eyes. They were always together, working, watching TV, cooking. It was like a 2 man club. And she understood as it had been just them till she had been shipped over on Ferals' orders.

She thought momentarily about the court house building explosion then shook her head and sat at the desk looking at work order slips, parts sheets and invoices. She looked though a few papers before glancing up at Chance as he was tapping his claws on her desk and gave a small smile. No matter what she did, he never seemed happy to see her.

"I gave you a parts order last week and it hasn't come in. The car was suppose to be finished today."

"You never gave me an order slip last week." She smiled tightly as her nails dug into the under side of the desk. Jake watched the two as another argument was about to start. He wasn't happy either about Feral suddenly throwing someone else into the garage but they didn't have any say in the matter. She was in the same boat as they were in that aspect.

It had started a month an a half back. Viper had taken over the court house with most of the people inside slowly turning into mutations. The SWAT Kats had been trying to get inside, arguing with Feral. He had a new tank he wanted to use. The rounds could be changed as needed, a way to match the Turbo Kat Jake had found out later. But something had gone wrong and the tank suddenly rammed the court house exploding as an Enforcer climbed out.

It turned out that the Enforcer that escaped had been Roxie. And after a few weeks in the hospital Feral had discharged her and sent her to the Yard much the same way he did Chance and himself. Looking up he saw the two yelling at each other. Jake glanced over at Chances work table and spied a few papers on it, one most likely the order he had needed.

"Hey, I got an idea. Why doesn't Roxie take the truck and just pick up the parts down town. It'll save time and you can still finish Miss. Brigg's car before she gets back." He almost winced at the look his partner gave him as Roxie walked past grabbing the keys off the wall and stormed out to the tow truck.

"The hell are you doing buddy? Taking sides now?"

"I'm not taking sides." He reached out picking up the papers from the table and held them up seeing Chance had the decency to look a little embarrassed. "She's not the enemy pal, she's been given the same treatment as us. Feral stuck her here."

Chance ran his fingers through his hair a little. "I know. It's just nerve racking. She could find out about us, run and tell Feral to get her position back. Or worse, sell us out to one of the Omega's."

"She wouldn't do that. We just have to keep an eye on her for now and see how things go. For all we know Feral will transfer her out to be a meter maid or something." Chance sighed running his fingers through his hair before nodding slightly and took the pages from Jake to fax over.

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Roxie wiped her eyes angrily as she waited for the light to turn green and wished for the millionth time the radio worked. She hated being at the garage. She was a tank gunner not a secretary. Pulling away from the light she pulled into parking lot for the part dealer and sat for a few minutes, knowing Jake would be faxing the order over.

Out of this whole mess Jake had tried to make everything run smoothly. She knew she was ruining their "boy's club" but it wasn't like she had a choice. Turning off the engine she leaned back in the seat calming down before climbing out and going inside. The old cat behind the counter smiled at her telling her the order would be ready in a hour or so and told her about a diner around the corner she could relax at.

Walking outside she looked around before hearing a jet roar overhead. The Turbo Kat flew past kicking up dust and leaves as it went past toward the city. She always envied those she worked with that flew. She always got sick flying which lead to her choosing the tank corp. She missed her baby. It had been an older model but she knew it inside and out. Walking to the diner she closed her eyes allowing the memories to fill her mind again.

_The day of the accident she had been covering for her friend in the gunner position. The tank was a new model, still a prototype. Feral had pushed for it to be ready, calling for it when Viper had stormed the court complex. The tank had smelled clean, not like what she was use to but she was excited for the chance to try the new guns and artillery. She had never met the driver before but thought little of it._

_As they neared the building she could hear Feral barking orders, both at his troops and the SWAT Kats. She could see the strange growths all over the outside of the building that pulsed and moved, thinking of the people inside. It was then the driver suddenly began convulsing, a strange needle hitting the floor._

_"Hey, you ok?" She reached forward as the driver turned, his skin melting and mutating slashing out at her._

_"The Doctor was right, this is amazing and I will share it with you!" He grabbed for her again as she tried to unstrap cutting ehr a few times with his deformed claws and kicked the control stick the tank suddenly jerked, moving forward quickly. Roxie saw the impact coming and began hitting buttons, overloading the systems and managed to climb out as the tank slammed into the building, exploding and throwing her forward. Looking up she saw people running around as rubble fell around them and the larger of the SWAT Kats running toward her as she slipped into darkness._

Looking into her now cold coffee she sighed, playing with the handle on the cup. She hadn't even been piloting it yet it was still all blamed on her by Feral. She had hopped the duo she had heard about in the scrap yard would at least understand her position but she instead had been met with anger from Chance and pity from Jake.

After over an hour and a half she finally had the parts loaded in the back on the truck and started back to the shop as the jet from earlier thundered over head causing her swerve in surprise.

Razor looked down. "She's gonna be pissed buddy. Did you have to go so low?" T-Bone shrugged a little.

"It was that or have her there when we open the hanger. Explain that to her, then how the jet never wakes her up at night." He glanced slightly over his shoulder at Razor who slumped a little in his seat.

They landed as the hanger door closed. The outside cameras showed the tow truck pulling in twenty minutes later as they got back to their work stations. Jake groaned softly, both from the headache he felt forming and seeing Chance was wasting no time in pissing off Roxie.

"What took you so long, Runt."

"They were still pulling the order and I had to wait then the SWAT Kats almost ran me over." She growled at him, her nails biting into her palms as he called her one of her most hated nick names that he had invented for her.

"Did you scratch my truck?" Chance went outside, Roxie closely following. Jake couldn't make out what they were saying but could hear the raised voices before hearing them unload the parts and bring them in. It was silent for the rest of the day, save for the noise of machines running and the phone ringing every so often.

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That night Jake noticed all had settled for the most part. Chance was watching Scary Cat with Roxie in the same room. He looked down at the drink Roxie had asked for, adding a few drops to it. When had it come to this, Razor of the SWAT Kats drugging people to keep their secret. He finished stirring the drink and walked in handing Roxie her glass of sour milk before flipping down next to Chance sipping his own.

An hour later Chance was lifting her up, going up to what use to be the attic that was now her bedroom and setting her down. He sighed, brushing hair away from her face.

"Sorry about this kid, but it's for as much your safety as it is ours." He turned leaving, hoping for one quiet night to just relax.

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well there you have it, my first swat kats story up and going. Putting it at T but might change later.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again, own OC only. Looking into getting the dvd's for Christmas :) Thank you to Starjammerblue as our first review. If there are spelling mistakes or strange words that I missed, I don't have full control over my left hand and it has a mind of its own when I type and we are working on it.

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Roxanna groaned, her head was swimming. Trying as she might, she couldn't remember much of the night before. They had been watching Scardy Cat then everyone had been fuzzy. Sitting up she looked at the clock. The digital display showed 3:30 AM brightly in the darkness of the room. Blinking she tried to clear her eyes but the fuzziness stayed at the edges of her vision. Moving, she went to get off the bed, falling to the floor instead. Looking back up, the clock showed it was after four.

"The hell..." Moving again she managed to get to her feet as her world began to spin again. Leaning on the wall she reached for the door. Something was wrong, that much she knew. When her fingers finally touched the door knob she felt the world move again and the floor came up to greet her.

By some luck the door had opened as she went down. Looking down the dark stairway she wasn't sure if anyone would hear her. Blinking she looked back at the clock seeing it was 5:30 AM now. Groaning she let her head lay back against her arm letting sleep take over again.

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Chance came back into the yard after his run. He had been thankful the night had been quiet but was use to little sleep and hadn't been able to take full advantage of the rare night off. Coming back inside he made his way into the kitchen. Setting off the coffee maker he pulled off his sweat shirt and threw it toward the coat rack, missing badly.

Grabbing the news paper he leafed through it, looking over the weather for the coming week, and pulled the coupons out for Jake. His ears flicked as they heard a faint noise. Standing he moved to the stairs and saw the door open at the top. Climbing the steps he stopped short finding Roxie laying on the floor, a peaceful look on her face. Crouching he lifted her up gently.

Roxie snuggled closer into the warmth after feeling cold for so long. It was nice. stretching she opened her eyes slowly and looked up to see Chance. Blinking a few times she stopped mid stretch.

"Um..Hi." Chance chuckled softly and set her down carefully.

"Morning. You ok? You were on the floor."

"Yea, I...I don't know why I was there." She looked around the room, trying to piece the night together but just drew blanks then back to Chance and shrugged. "sleep walking I guess." She gave a half shrug "I'll be down in a few minutes." She watched him nod and head back down to the kitchen.

Sighing she flopped down onto the bed, hearing the springs groan. It hadn't been the first time she had woken up in an odd place here. once she had found herself still in the living room after knowing she had been at her desk late. She also seemed to be losing time. Groaning as she smelled the coffee now burning in the machine she stood and got dressed for the day.

Jake walked into the kitchen covering his nose. Chance was chucking the whole coffee maker cursing softly. "What happen?"

"Well, the brewer finally died and almost caught fire. Now I can't get my morning coffee. Unless..." He had a thoughtful look then turned. "Roxie!" He winced when he saw he had basically just yelled in her ears.

"Bastard, what." She glared up at him rubbing her ears.

"Um, you wanna make a coffee run?" He smiled sheepishly as she crossed her arms. He held up a few folded bills still smiling. Roxie sighed, grabbing the money and handed him a note pad as she went to get her purse.

Jake rolled his eyes as he took the pad from Chance, writing down his order. Below, they heard the similar noise of the alarm. Looking at one another then up the stairs, Jake switched on the radio.

"What do we do."

"We need to keep her out for the day." Chance looked over, smiling as Roxie came down. "You know, I was thinking. Why not take the day off. You haven't really had one since you came here. Why no go to a salon or spa or...something."

Roxie took the pad slowly, immediately knowing something was up. Her eyes flicked to Jake before going back to Chance. Both were shifting from side to side, looking like they were coiled tighter then a clock spring.

"I'm not much of a hair and nails kinda girl. I'd rather get the paper work done. I have no idea why you both want me out of the office suddenly but I don't like it." Walking past them she went out to the tow truck, driving off.

"Well, that was perfect." Chance went down into the hatch and answered the comm.

"Where have you been. Past Master is on the clock tower again." Calico Briggs's voice came over the intercom as Jake came down the ladder.

"Sorry Miss. Briggs. We were handling something here. We're on our way." They both finished suiting up as they ran to the jet taking off. Razor glanced down seeing the tow truck below on the road.

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Roxie drummed her claws on the steering wheel as she drove seeing the Turbo Kat zoom past over head. Pulling to a stop she tied her hair back, trying to relax and glanced at the radio. It looked like it had been ripped out then put back in at least once. Reaching over she began to fiddle with it. She left it alone when the light turned green, heading into the city.

Parking she glanced at the city hall clock tower seeing dark clouds swirling around it. In the distance she heard choppers moving in and the faint roar of jet engines. Closing her eyes she let the old jolt go up her spine before pushing it back and walked into the coffee shop.

Looking around she saw everyone was watching the news. Past Master was shown, waving his watch around, the camera to far away to pick up what he was saying. She rolled her eyes as Feral came on the screen.

"Once the SWAT Kats leave the area we will handle Past Master. I wouldn't be surprised if they were working together on this, considering how fast they showed up. " Feral looked confident as a few of his jets went over head, firing at the tower.

As the missiles hit there seemed to be a ripple in the air. The windows suddenly blew out of the coffee shop, smoke and glass flying everywhere. Roxie slammed into a group of tables curling up as best she could. Her ears were ringing, the screams of the people around her muffled.

Sitting up slowly, glass and debris fell off her. Outside looked like a bomb hit. People were running around trying to find cover and safety, a few almost running over Roxie as they scattered. Standing she took a step almost going down as her ankle gave slightly. Using one of the tables she fell on for support she stood again, moving carefully. Outside she saw the remains of missiles parts, cars were over turned and a few buildings looked almost ready to fall over. Looking at the clock tower in the distance, she saw it was largely untouched.

"He warped the explosions?" She blinked and put a hand on her head to move her hair away from her eyes and winced. Pulling her hand back she saw blood smudged on her palm. "My hospital bills are going to be through the roof." Shaking her head she began walking as best she could, ignoring the pain and began looking for people trapped or hurt.

After half an hour she could still hear explosions and fighting. And something that sounded strangely like a dragon. A few ambulances showed up, taking away those with the worst injuries and treating the rest on site. Roxanna winced as they wrapped her ankle and looked at her phone again. She had been trying tp reach the garage for the last 10 minutes, only getting the answering machine.

_'They couldn't have gone out, I have the truck. The hell is going on with them.'_ She hissed with a medic suddenly applied a damp cloth to her head cleaning the blood from her hair. Her ears flicked when people near by started screaming and running. Standing her eyes widened as people began to run past. Larger then life, a T-Rex was running down the street, Past Master on its head. He was blasting kats in front, the beam turning aging them to the point of ash.

Jumping back into the coffee shop as it went past she saw a few Enforcers had not been as lucky. rolling outside she grabbed one of the laser rifles and aimed, firing as the small demon on the lizards head.

Past Master growled to himself, holding his side. He may be a zombie but he still felt pain. Gripping his watch he prepared to open a portal. The plan had been simple enough. Grab the Depute Mayor and make her his bride. The eclipse was only a few months away and much had to be done in that time, including securing his love. But the blasted SWAT Kats and Feral had appeared and ruined everything. He shook with rage as he raised his watch.

Laser blasts suddenly went over his shoulder before one found its mark in his back, another striking the dinosaur he rode. It roared and began trashing its head throwing the Past Master off to the street below. Looking back he saw a lone she-kat aiming at him. She looked emotionless except for the rage in her eyes. Her grip was strong, not a twitch could be seen. He watched as she re adjusted her grip before firing again.

He jumped to the side as the blasts just missed where his head had been.

"Your commander will not be pleased if you kill me wench!"

"He's not my commander." She moved carefully, closer till she was pressed up against the wall he was behind then turned rifle aimed, ready to fire. She blinked, lowering it when she found nothing.

"Bell!" Roxanna groaned and looked back as one of the current banes of her existence climbed out of a squad car. Ulysses Feral walked toward her, gripping his cane. "What in Kats name is going on here. Why are you holding an Enforcer rifle." His gold eyes burned down into her. Turning his back as she began to answer, he looked around seeing his tanks taking out the T-Rex.

"It's good to see professional gunners at work, isn't it." He glanced over his shoulder, seeing the hate and venom in her eyes as she tossed the rifle to the side. Walking back to where she parked the truck she was surprised to see the windows and metal undamaged. Climbing in she started it and drove away as clean up began.

It had taken her three hours to make the twenty minute drive. She was beyond frustrated and wanted nothing more then to take a hot shower and climb into bed. Tomorrow she planned on ordering a few things to make it feel more like home. She smiled when the garage finally came into view.

Jake paced back and forth in front of the TV, glancing at the clock. "The last call came in right before that dinosaur tore though downtown. What if she's hurt." Chance watched Jake, long having given up trying to watch the news.

"She's fine. She's tough, remember? Ex-enforcer like us." He sighed when he saw it didn't stop his partners pacing. "Want to take the cycles out to look for her?"

Jake nodded and walked to the kitchen where the hatch was. "There she is." Chance got up, following Jake outside and stopped when they saw her all but fall out of the drivers seat.

"So about the coffee, the shop kinda was destroyed so you're sol." Roxie dusted her jeans off, limping toward the door. Jake stopped her gently, taking in her appearance before helping her in the rest of the way.

Chance looked the truck over, smirking to himself as he saw the armor and windows had held up as designed. Looking in he saw some dried blood on the seat and Roxanna's purse thrown on the passenger side. Reaching in he grabbed it, planning on cleaning the truck the next day and walked inside to find Jake fussing over Roxie.

"Stop making that face Runt, he's going to look you over no matter how much of a fuss you make. Just go with it." He caught himself from laughing at the look she gave him and hung her bag up. Moving back to the living room he flopped down watching the news showing images of the clock tower, then of the down town area.

Squinting Chance leaned in seeing a very fuzzy image of the Past Master being shot at. He could barely make out the form but smiled and glanced into the kitchen where Jake was putting an ice wrap on her ankle, the wheels in his head slowly turning.


	3. Chapter 3

Jake watched Chance working on the tow truck. He had been at it for a few days now. They were still looking for the Past Master since the destruction of down town but most likely he had slipped back into what ever time he crawled from.

"What exactly are you doing to the truck."

"The armor and glass held up fine but the engine shifted and I'm trying to reinforce the bolts that hold it in place." He pulled himself out from under the body and looked up at Jake. "What?"

"Roxie was looking for the truck. And a part order came in for pick up. The special one." Chance stood and smirked.

"Finally. I can't wait to try out the new system." Getting into the truck he pulled it out the back way and came in though the front gates to find the she-kat waiting.

"I was wondering if you got lost." She smirked as Chance ignored her, catching the keys. Jake walked over handing her the print out for the pick up.

"It's delicate so try to avoid the bumps. Make it your last stop." He smiled as she rolled her eyes, pulling herself up into the cab and drove out of the lot. Jake walked back inside. "So shes gone for the day. Wana go to the target range?" He couldn't help but smirk as Chance chuckled and they both headed down to the hanger.

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Roxanna looked at the address on the order sheet and growled. "That's in the middle of no where on the other side of the swamps. He's kidding right." She pulled out her cell, noticing the battery was more then half dead and added getting a new charger to her list. The last one had mysteriously broken the other night and she had hoped it wasn't completely destroyed.

She was temped to throw her cell phone after it rang for over five minutes but figured they couldn't hear the shop phone over them working. "Well this will take all day." Sighing she put her shopping list away and started for the highway. She fiddled with the radio again, then punched it out of frustration.

It came to life suddenly causing her to smile and she relaxed back in her seat as one of the oldie stations came on. After an hour of driving she came to the turn off for the swamps and sighed as the radio died again. The road soon turned from paved to dirt and she grimaced as her ankle bumped around a bit.

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T-Bone brought his cycle next to Razors and smirked. "Beat that time." Razor revved his cycle and took off down the sand dune toward the target area. He saw the targets start to pop up and aimed, firing with the small lasers on the cycle. He smirked as he finished the the trial, his time coming up on the screen and came back up to T-Bone.

"Bit slower then your run buddy but I hit more targets."

"Yea, what ever you say Sure Shot. Think Roxie will be OK picking up the new targeting system on her own?"

"Yea. It's small enough that she'll think its some high end car part. Sucks it had to be delivered out in the boonies.

"Even you said it's been the only place not to question anything that's come in for delivery. This gives us time to see how the new training program is running. Besides, its a straight run from there and back. She'll get her stuff done then grab the part and we'll have all night to install it." T-Bone smirked, revving his engine. "Race ya." He took off down the dune, Razor close behind.

Razor flipped his visor down and looked toward the horizon. The sun was starting to head down and it was looking to be a great sunset. He smiled slightly thinking about Callie and what she was doing tonight. He chuckled slightly, missing -Bone radioing him, in his own little world.

"Razor!" He blinked and turned cutting a sharp turn, coming to a stop as the edge of the cliffs came up on him. "Buddy, you OK?" T-Bone came up beside him taking his helmet off.

"Yea, just had something on my mind." He couldn't help the slight blush on his cheeks.

"More like someone." T-Bone chuckled, punching his friend in the shoulder. "Come on, lets head back and get some work done."

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Roxie watched as the old man put a few boxes in the back on the cab for her. He skived her out slightly and he didn't say much but he refused to let her lift anything. She vaguely remembered he said to call him Greg or something. Leaning against the side of the building she looked around. It was at the edge of a small pit stop area, with a general store on one end and a motel on the other. She had no idea why the guys didn't have the parts sent to the shop but she was going to be paid for this trip.

The man walked over with a slight limp. "All set sweetie. You sure you don't want to check into the motel for the night. Its getting late and there aren't any street lights once you hit the dirt road. Strange things in that swamp." Roxie looked at her watch.

"No, I'll be fine. " She smiled and walked around to the driver sides, hoping to get out of there quickly. The old man watched her climb in and sighed softly. He hadn't been kidding about the odd things in the swamp at night.

He watched her drive away and turned to go back inside, seeing something on the ground. Picking it up he looked it over, seeing it was an engine part then looked up to where the tow truck had been. "Well, that ain't good."

Walking into his building he put the part down and went to call the garage when his phone rang. He put the part down, soon covering it with paper work, looking for an order form.

Roxie hummed to herself as she drove and reached for the soda in her bag. Looking back up she jammed on the breaks as something ran in front of the truck, hearing a loud thud. Looking around, she found nothing, hoping she didn't run it over. Turning off the engine, she climbed out and limped to the back, looking around.

Looking under she saw what looked like a snake twitching. "Shit." Walking to the side of the road she grabbing a stick and began trying to get it from under the truck. After a few minutes she managed to push it to the other side and climbed back into the cab. "I can't wait to get home."

Turning the key the engine sputtered before dieing. Roxie Looked at the gas gauge, seeing it was more then half full and tried a few more times getting the same result. Grabbing her phone she saw the battery had finally given out and rested her head on the steering wheel.

"It's fine, just a long walk back to the motel and calling the guys. Not sure how they will get here but hey, maybe the Swat Kat's patrol the boonies." Climbing out again she locked the truck and began walking back along the road, yellow eyes following her as she went.

Viper hadn't expected anyone to be out on the swamp road this late in the day. He also didn't expect to lose his tail either. Looking down at the stump he growled and looked back at the she-kat walking. He would have to have a talk to Greg about letting potential test subjects leaving the rest stop. She looked very fit, perfect for his latest formula.

He slithered and moved silently through the reeds and water after her, trying to imagine what she would look like with scales. Perhaps she would loose her legs and become snake like instead. His eyes rolled back slightly as he went under the water.

Roxie slowed, hearing something moving behind her. Looking back she saw nothing but the darkening road. She began to jog, ignoring the pain in her ankle as best she could, remembering everything she was taught in boot camp.

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Chance stepped out of the shower, pulling the towel around his waist and wiped the mirror clean. It had been a good day. The new training program worked, they had finished up the car's they had and Roxie would be back with the new system for the Turbo Kat. Walking out to his bedroom he looked at the clock to see it was past 7. Grabbing his clothes, he dressed and walked out to Jake, finding him on the phone.

"I want peppers on my pizza buddy." Jake looked over at him, then, hanging up.

"Third time I've called Roxie in the last half hour. Her phones off."

"She's probably mad we asked her to go so far. She'll be back soon and we can order dinner. Relax. Its been a good day."

"I hope your right. The truck was good to drive, right." He saw Chance nod as he walked into the other room and sighed, trying her number again. Looking up, he heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. "She's fine. She was trained like us." Walking into the living room he flopped onto the couch as the news started, trying to reassure himself.

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Roxie looked up as the lightning flashed across the sky, knowing the rain would begin at any moment. Looking back she saw nothing until lightning flashed again, yellow eyes lighting up as it did. The rain began a few moments later, but she barely noticed as she broke into a full run. Behind her she heard the wheezing laugh she knew all to well.

Dr. Viper watched her run as he laughed and chased after her on all fours, the lack of tail knocking him off balance. He did love a good chase and there was no way for the Swat Kats to even know where he was. After he had the girl he would have the truck she came in disposed of. The swamps were vast and he knew them well. Hiding a truck would be easy. It had been for the other car's now submerged in the waters here. He slid to a stop, almost tasting the electricity in the air and shielded his vision as a bolt of lightning struck a tree. Bark and charred branches fell around him, a large piece falling across the road. Looking past it, he saw it hadn't even fazed the girl as she was still running down the dirt road. The paved part was close and she would soon be able to reach the town. Not that she knew everyone there worked for him.

Roxanna could have kissed the pavement as soon as her boots touched it but kept running. Somewhere behind her was the deranged doctor and she needed to put as much distance between him and herself. She was soaked and shivering when she hit the first road sign, thunder rumbling over head. Going past it she knew she only had a mile or so to go till she was home free. Behind her she heard the scrape of claws on stone as Viper drew closer.

she finally saw the lights of the part shop and motel. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her ankle was screaming but she was close. She could clearly see the creepy man in the window and she knew he saw her from the look on his face. It was also that moment she felt the clawed hand grab her ankle and pull. she fell hard on the pavement, the claws sinking into her skin.

Behind Roxie, Viper laughed and began to drag her backwards. Looking up she saw Greg watch, then shut the blinds. Tears burned the corner of her eyes before she heard Viper laugh again and began fighting back. Kicking back a few times she felt her boot make contact with his face and smirked when he howled in pain grabbing his snout, letting her go. Moving forward she got back to her feet running for the motel and began banging on the door.

"It's useless girl. No one can save you out here." Roxie looked back, watching him getting up then saw the phone booth and ran for it, slamming the door shut and lifted the receiver, praying she heard a dial tone. Punching in the garage number she looked up and around, not seeing the lizard anywhere. As she heard the phone being picked up on the other end there was another flash of lightning she saw Vipers shadow on top of the phone booth before the whole rest stop lost power.

Roxie hung up the phone slowly, watching his claws coming into view on the glass, then his eyes. She rarely felt fear in her career as an Enforcer, even less in her off time. Now it was settling in her stomach like lead and grew as Viper's smirk grew, showing his yellowed jagged teeth.


	4. Chapter 4

Chance looked at the phone as he heard the line go dead, then shrugged. He tried to reverse dial but the number kept coming up unavailable. Jake came in to see who had been on the phone and grab a drink.

"Was it Roxie?" Chance shook his head.

"Don't know, but the numbers coming up unavailable when I try to call it. Storms getting worse." The lights flickered as thunder rumbled again. "We might lose power. The generators have enough gas?" Jake nodded.

"Should we call the parts shop?" Chance nodded, dialing the shop.

"Numbers not working. Get suited up." Jake moved to the hatch climbing down followed by Chance as the power finally went out. The flood lights came on, casting a yellow tint on everything. They suited up quickly, hitting the button for the hatch as the alarm began to sound.

"Swat Kats come in, the power grid was hit and we lost communications with the maximum security prison."

"On our way Miss. Briggs." Razor looked at T-Bone. "I hope she's OK till we can get out there."

"She's tough and can handle anything, like she did with the Past Master." They climbed into the jet, rocketing off into the storm, seeing most of the city was dark in the distance and banked, heading for the prison.

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Roxie gripped the phone in the cradle tightly, watching the creature through the glass. She shivered, feeling the water run down her back. The glass began to crack under the pressure from his claws, causing him to smirk again. As the glass finally gave she rammed sideways in the door of the booth, falling out onto the pavement and glass, wincing and sprang back to her feet, running.

Behind her she heard Viper make an inhumane sound as he launched out after her. She had no idea where to go except back toward the truck and hope it would turn over this time. Her hopes were quickly snuffed out as she was suddenly slammed into from behind, claws shredding her jacket and shirt.

Viper held onto the struggling woman as best he could. He loved her fight and did his best to sink his claws in. "Keep struggling, its amusing. Soon you'll be my new pet and will be the first of many as I turn the city into my own swamp."

"Didn't you try that once before? And the Swat Kats kicked your tail." She laughed a little before biting her lip when Viper slashed her back.

"Silence! They will be the last to die, watching as I flood the city. Then I will feed them to my pets!" He smirked as he felt her start struggling again before grabbing her head and turning it slightly, slamming it into the road. He did it a second time before climbing off. He could tell she was dazed as she was making a light groaning sound.

Grabbing her, he threw her over a shoulder and awkwardly walked back toward the swamps. His eyes rolled back in ecstasy as the thick water came up around his legs and waist, allowing him to move easier. He moved deeper into the swamp, before coming to a half sunken concrete structure.

It had seen better days, having been left to decay with the rest of the swamp. Viper had found it by accident after escaping the Swat Kats and Enforcers. It was here he now called home and carried on his many experiments. It had taken him time and much stolen equipment but he had managed to get it back up and working.

He shrugged the woman onto the table and began looking her over for her wallet. Just another to add to the pile. After a few minutes he found it in her front pocket and looked it over. "Roxanna Bell. That sounds familiar." He took another look at her face, his eyes widening slightly as recognition dawned on him. "You're that tank gunner." He laughed a little as he began cutting her clothes away and strapped her down, leaving her in her underwear.

"Because of you, months of planning destroyed." He walked to a table swirling a beaker with a green fluid in it before filling a syringe. "I will make sure you are awake for your transformation and I assure you, it will be the most painful experience of your life."

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Feral growled to himself. He had a minx back home warming his bed and here he was, trying to keep order during one of the biggest blackouts the city had seen in awhile. The electrical crews were working as fast as they could but with budget cuts, it wasn't easy. He was secretly thankful the Swat Kats were handling the prison, leaving him to handle his city.

He looked up as the rain finally began to slow and looked as one of his officers ran over. "Report?"

"Sir, they are reporting that the main grid is fried, took a direct hit. They have the hospitals up and running and the prison on the back up system but the city will be dark for a week at most."

"A week! Tell them we need it up and running tomorrow or we'll have riots on our hands. Call in every Enforcer you can, I don't care who goes into over time, we need to contain this." The officer nodded and ran off, talking quickly into his walkie.

Feral lowered his hood and climbed into his squad car. Closing his eyes he breathed in and released slowly, trying to focus. "Three more years and I can retire. Just keep repeating that." He took a sip of his now cold coffee and rested his head against the headrest. The familiar noise of a jet engine began to increase after a few minutes causing his grip to increase on his thermos as he looked out into the darkness.

The Turbo Kat landed perfectly, allowing the two inside to climb down. they look just as drenched as he was, but they seemed agitated and restless. Climbing out of his car he watched them as T-Bone approached.

"Prisons handled. Any riots?" Feral watches the Swat Kat in front of him, finding something off but couldn't put his finger on it.

"No, thank the Kats."

"Good." With that T-Bone turned and almost ran back to the jet.

"Hot date Swat Kat? Suddenly to important to defend the city?" Feral smirked as the look that crossed their faces.

"No, friend of ours was caught out in this, and we can't find her." Razor answered before the canopy shut, keeping T-Bone from answering the taunt. Feral watched them take off quickly then poured his coffee out.

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Roxie groaned, her head pounding. She could feel pebbles stuck to the side of her faced and dried blood pinching the skin and pulling her fur as she moved. Looking around she blinked a few times to clear her vision, finding herself in a dimly lit operating room. Moving, she found she was strapped down.

Looking to the side, she found Viper had his back to her, mixing chemicals and liquids at his work station. Closing her eyes she tried to slip her wrist free, a trick she learned when she was playing with her uncles hand cuffs.

"I know you're awake girl. I can hear the change in your breathing." Viper hissed softly and walked over cracking her hand with a cane, causing her to yelp. "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss. Bell. Its not often I get to meet the cause of my failure and its not a Swat Kat." His eyes flashed for a moment as he grabbed her hair making her look directly at him. "I have something special planned for you."

She watched as he held up a needle and struggled as he grabbed her arm jabbing it in, injecting it into her blood stream. "Normally I knock out the subject, but this is special. I want you to feel every moment of agony as your cells change and your body breaks." He ran a claw down her cheek, cutting slowly but deeply.

Roxie watched him move away back to the table. She could feel the burning in her arm from where he injected the chemicals and could feel her skin getting itchy slowly. After a few minutes it turned to a burning crawling up her arm slowly spreading though her body. Closing her eyes tightly, she couldn't help the lone tear that escaped.

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"Buddy, please tell me the tracker is working in the truck." Razor looked forward at T-Bone as best he could.

"Yea, should be. the turn off starts now below us, this is the only way she could have taken." He brought the jet lower, following the road, seeing it flooded from the storm.

"I got a ping from the truck, keep going straight." Razor watched the blip on his radar getting closer. After a half hour they were almost over the dot. "Stop here." He unstrapped and looked out the glass, turning on night vision.

"No place for me to land, you have to repel down." Razor nodded and opened the hatch, sliding it backwards and threw a rope over. He slid down carefully, landing in knee high water and waded over to the truck.

T-Bone touched his ear piece after a few moments. "Anything?"

"No, she left her purse and locked the truck. It must have broke down and she headed back to the part shop on foot."

"Shit. The truck should have been fine." T-Bone punched his side panel in frustration. Razor walked around the truck a little not seeing anything else and unlocked the cab pulling her purse out, looking for anything.

"Her phones dead. And it looks like she never did her shopping. The only thing in the back is our package. I'm giving her a comm when we find her." Razor grabbed the rope, the line pulling him back up to the jet.

"Agreed buddy. Heading to the rest stop now. Maybe she went to the motel there. Weather was crappy enough and they probably lost power."

"I hope your right. If she went into the swamp, she could be anywhere. Or worse." T-Bone glanced out the cockpit window as they flew out at the dark swamps below.

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Viper listened as the she-kat screamed, her voice growing hoarse. Her wrists bled from the straps cutting in as she struggled, her hair sticking to her forehead from sweat. It was music to his ears. He couldn't wait to see what the end result would be. He continued to listen as he worked, her voice becoming strained.

After awhile it grew quiet. Walking to the main part of the lab, he found she had gone still. Growling, he felt for a pulse finding a faint one and opened her eyelids, finding blood shot eyes.

"Great, another failed experiment." He went to unstrap her when he saw her hands, finding they had turned to claws. She suddenly began to convulse, foaming at the mouth as her teeth began to sharpen, a few growing from the gums at odd angles.

"Look at you! That's it." He watched as she began thrashing, trying to get free. "You will be the first of many my pet. Mega Kat City will be mine!"

Roxie snarled, her eyes flicking around. Pain shot through her again, causing her to pull hard, the straps on her arms finally giving. Viper moved back, grabbing a blaster from his table. She finished getting her legs free and fell off the table, bone cracking and twisting as her limbs grew longer. Looking around the table, yellow eyes glowed in the dimness of the room.

Moving slowly, she stalked out on all fours, toward him, drooling. Patched of fur began to fall off, showing the skin mutating and darkening under it. Viper smirked as he watched the change continue. He was taken bake when she suddenly pounced, biting into his shoulder and began shaking her head side to side.

Viper screeched and began clawing at her, throwing her off and fired the blaster, hitting her in the shoulder. "You dare turn on your master." Grabbing a cattle prod he walked over jabbing it into her side, causing her to howl in pain pulling back. He kept jabbing her, backing her into a cell in the back of the room and closed the door. "I will teach you to obey." He charged the rod again, shocking her side again, sending her to the floor, breathing hard.

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T-Bone landed the jet carefully and jumped out followed by Razor. The rest stop looked deserted, save for the faint hum of generators from the parts shop and and motel further down. T-Bone carefully walked down the street, seeing the smashed glass of the phone booth. Looking down he saw tattered fabric and knelt, picking some up. Roxanna's perfume still clung to it faintly. Off to the side he saw something shiny. Picking it up, he found it to be the truck keys.

Razor walked over to see what he was looking at and felt his chest tighten. T-Bone stood slowly, walking past Razor to the parts shop. "T-Bone what..." He never got to finish the sentence as T-Bone kicked in the door and went it, looking for Greg. Razor blinked then followed quickly when he heard a struggle.

Inside he found T-Bone holding the dealer up against the wall. The man looked ready to have a heart attack, looking from T-Bone to Razor. Holding up the keys and bit of jacket close to his face T-Bone tightened his grip slightly.

"I will ask this once, where is the woman who came here." Greg swallowed, gripping the wrist holding him.

"Don't know, she drove out of here before the storm hit. Maybe she got lost in the swamp." He paled further when T-Bones eyes narrowed and was lifted a little higher.

"Wrong answer. I know she came back and something happened. Wouldn't want the Enforcers coming here looking for one of their own that went missing here." Razor nodded.

"Heard her and Feral's niece are best friends. Be a shame if they came here." Greg looked between them, shaking sightly. Razor adjusted his glove-a-trick slightly in full view.

"She came back after the storm started. Viper pays us to keep tourists here but she insisted on leaving. He chased her back here. I didn't see what happened but I know he took her into the swamp. That's all I know." Razor and T-Bone looked between each other then fired the cement rounds at Greg nailing it to the wall.

"Can't have you informing Viper." Taking duct tape, Razor taped Greg's mouth shut as T-Bone walked outside. Razor walked out a few moments later. "I'll contact Callie. we'll find he."

"Its a big place. He could have her anywhere. Who knows what he's doing to her while we stand here. And it's our fault."


	5. Chapter 5

Two days. In two days they had been unable to find Viper or Roxie and T-Bone kept feeling the lump in his chest getting bigger. Razor kept telling him they would save her, rescue her from the doctor and bring him in. But Razor had no idea what being mutated felt like, if that was what had happened to her. He never felt what it was like to loose control of your body, your mind returning to basic instincts. He had wanted to hurt Razor that day, maybe even kill him and he had no control. Not to mention the pain from it.

Looking out at the water he saw it reflecting the colors of the sunrise. He was happy the storms had finally past, but riots had started in a few areas of the city, mostly the lower income ones. Razor had gone back to help deal with some of them, leaving T-Bone on his own for the moment to search for her.

Flying lower he kept an eye on the radar. Razor had fine tuned it to only pickup catlike signals but were having no luck so far. After a few hours the clouds started moving back in, thunder rumbling faintly in the distance. He was ready to radio Razor when he heard the faint ping as the radar picked up something a few miles away. Chewing his lip he looked from the radio to the location that was coming up.

"Might be my only chance. Sorry buddy." He headed quickly toward the blinking dot, flying past the structure in the swamp. He hated doing it but landing in a shallow area was his only option. Jumping down, he made sure the security system was on, the homing beacon transmitting back to base and began wading though the thick water.

He looked up as the rain started again and grimaced as he stepped on something that squirmed. "She better be OK." The rain only got harder as he reached the door, finding it open and turned his night vision on as he went inside. The walls were slick with slime, but the water seemed to be getting shallower as he continued down the hall. A dripping noise only make him more on edge as he looked room after room.

Opening one door he looked through the gloom as a smell hit his nose, causing him to gag. Covering his nose as best he could, he went inside to get a better look. The scene before him made his jaw drop. Mangled bodies, some could still be distinguished as cat, some were mutated. All shared the same frozen look of pain and horror on their faces. He became aware of a buzzing noise slowly, realizing flies covered the walls and some bodies. Backing out carefully, he gratefully inhaled the stale, stagnant air and continued on.

Reaching a cross roads, he looked down both directions, hearing the sounds of thrashing and roars to the left. Going that way, he readied his glovatrix. The hall ended with double doors that opened into a lab and operating room. Switching his night vision off he looked around, his attention being drawn to a cage near the back. Inside a large creature sat, watching him with large, glowing eyes.

It was covered in coarse fur, with patches missing in some areas. The limbs were long and thin, ending in wicked looking claws. Teeth were sticking out at odd angles from its jaws, drooling as it followed his movements. T-Bone shuddered, looking away and went back to looking the lab over, sending video back to the computers at the base for Razor to look over. In the opposite corner he found a pile on hand bags, torn clothing and wallets left forgotten. He felt his chest tightening as he picked up the one on top, looking the worn outside over. As he was about to open it, water splashing caught his attention.

Looking around, he pulled himself up into an open vent and moved back out of the dim light of the room. In walked Viper, carrying a bag. The creature in the cage began to growl, moving away from the front of the cage it was in.

"Whats wrong, not happy to see daddy? And here I brought you dinner." He laughed as he approached, throwing dark colored meat into the cage. The creature sniffed the meat before tearing into it. T-Bone looked away as the sounds of it eating continued. "Now that I know the right compounds, I can make an army of mutants and over run the city." Viper put his hands on the bars, leaning closer, watching his creation eat. It looked up at the movement before lunging at him. Viper went back with a screech, his fingers bleeding.

"You insolent bitch. I will teach you to fear me!" He grabbed the cattle prod, jabbing it into the things side. It roared in pain, the smell of singed hair and skin quickly filled the air as the creation dropped to its side, breathing hard. "Once I have my army, I wouldn't need you. It's a shame too Miss. Bell. You are a prime example of what beautiful creations I can make." Viper turned away back to his work table.

T-Bone stayed as still as he could. He couldn't believe his ears. That thing, that monster was Roxie. Looking out as much as he could, he saw it getting back up, groaning as it moved to the back on the cage, its tail now visible. Her tail had lost most of its fur, and had lengthened looking so bony now.

It was hours before Viper left again, leaving his lab coat behind, most likely to hunt for his dinner. T-Bone waited before climbing out of the vent, his joints popping from being in one position for so long. He carefully walked back to the cage, opening the wallet and looked at Roxie's license photo, then at the thing in the cage. It was watching him again, growling low and ready to pounce.

"Easy Roxie. It's me, remember, T-Bone. Kats, what did he do to you." He jumped back as Roxie suddenly jumped, the bars the only thing stopping her, slashing at T-Bone trying to slash him. He just felt numb, remembering the thoughts that went though his brain when he had been mutated. Closing his eyes tightly, he felt his claws digging into his palms. "I swear Roxie, I will fix this and you will be normal again and home safe." He looked back up at her, seeing she was sniffing the air, getting as close to him as the bars would allow.

Cautiously he held his hand out, seeing a small amount of blood from his claws there. Roxie continued to sniff then licked his palm, making an almost purr like sound. He put his other hand on her head slowly as she licked his palm. She stopped when he did, then relaxed when she sniffed the air again. Looking at the lock he frowned when he saw it was electronic.

Putting the glovatrix to it, he fired the taser at it, shorting the lock. Carefully he stepped back, letting the door swing open. Roxie sniffed the door, walking out. T-Bone watched her carefully, ready to trank her if needed. She stretched, her talons digging into the metal floor slightly then she began stalking through the room sniffing the air.

T-Bone smirked, getting ready to lead her out when she started snarling, looking where she was facing. Viper stood at the door smirking, looking from one to the other.

"Well Swat Kat, it seems I was wrong about not being found. And you've met my newest creation. I suppose I can make her a friend." He closed the doors behind him, the lock clicking into place. Roxie snarled, what fur she had on her back standing on end. T-Bone flexed his fingers, feeling the glovatrix change settings.

"But I am curious, why she doesn't attack you. Curious indeed. I'll have to look into it when I dissect your body!" Viper jumped at T-Bone, T-Bone firing cement shots as he came at him. They both landed on a table, glass and chemicals smashing to the floor. They rolled, T-Bone punching Viper in the face as Viper racked his claws down the front of his jump suit, both going through the mixing chemicals. T-Bone threw Viper off as the liquid began eating though the back of his jump suit. Ripping what was left of the top off, he looked up just as a Viper jumped at him again.

Roxie roared, spearing Viper out of the air into his main work bench. It came down with a deafening bang. More chemicals splashed to the floor. T-Bone stood slowly watching as she reared back and roaring, then began to maul the Doctor. He was stunned for a few minutes until he saw blood splatter the wall. Moving quickly he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck pulling her off.

"Roxie, enough." He held her in place as best he could as she thrashed around, saliva running onto his arms. She finally calmed down as the Doctor stopped moving. T-Bone began to pull her back out to the door, finding it locked. Putting her down he began to shoulder ram the door. Roxie watched for a moment, cocking her head before ramming into the door with him. It gave it a loud bang, the noise echoing though the deserted halls of the empty compound.

Grabbing the scruff of her neck again, he began down the hall again and tried his night vision visor, finding it had smashed in the fight. He growled softly to himself, when he heard Roxie start sniffing, letting her lead. After some time, he heard the flies buzzing and covered his noise, the smell worse then it was before. He felt her stop before he did, walking into the door. On the other side he heard the rain coming down.

Pushing hard, the door screeched open. Rain began pelting them, cold and unyielding as they left the compound. Roxie snarled as lightning flashed through the sky, her eyes not use to the bright light. T-Bone moved his hand from the back on her boney neck to the top of her head to try and relax her, moving though the water to the Turbo Kat. He could see it had sank a little in the soft muck. Climbing up, he opened the canopy, instantly hearing Razor on the comm, trying to raise him.

"T-Bone, answer me! Where the hell are you, the signal has been stationary for almost twelve hours!"

"I'm here. Found something on the radar and went to check it out. Found Roxie." He could almost hear the relief over the comm from his friend.

"She alright? You find Viper?"

"Yea, found Viper. Roxie...he mutated her. Its bad. See if you can get Dr. Zyme to meet us at his lab. I gotta try and get her into the jet."

"Got it. I'll alert Callie to the location for the Enforcers. Wheres Viper anyway."

"Roxie took care of him. Permanently I think. I'll see you at the lab." He cut the link before Razor could respond and looked down to see Roxie had wandered away from the jet, eating what looked like a gator. Jumping down he approached her carefully.

"Come on Roxie, time to go for a ride." He stopped when she growled at him, guarding her kill. "Trust me, I don't want your food." He grimaced when she tore a large piece off, swallowing it. Picking up a floating piece of the meat he waved it, getting her attention. Carefully he lead her back to the Turbo Kat.

"That's right, this way. Good girl." He climbed up onto the wing then into the cockpit, Roxie following, jumping into Razors seat. T-Bone hit the bottom, closing the canopy and gave her the meat as he began to start up the engines. Lifting off, he hoped to what ever Gods were watching that the mutant behind him didn't have a freak out, and took off for the city. After an hour they were passed by Enforcer choppers, Feral in the lead one.

As they entered the city he heard Roxie making a soft whimpering and groaning noise. "Don't even think about it. We don't have much further to go to the lab." His response was another groan then a retching sound and the smell of wet meat. "You suck. You know that? And you're cleaning it once you're back to normal." Below he could see Razor on his cycle heading for the labs. Landing on the roof, he saw Dr. Zyme waiting with a few other assistants, ready with trank guns and a loop.

T-Bone looked back at Roxie, finding the large mutant taking up most of the space in the back. He climbed out, lifting her as best he could and walked over to the Doctor. Dr Zyme looked on with awe, his assistants looked afraid. T-Bone raised an eyebrow before clearing his throat.

Dr. Zyme blinked before shaking his head. "Right, this way. Your partner said it was bad, but this is amazing. I have never seen a mutation like this. Normally its reptiles and amphibian type mutations." He motioned to an examination table, T-Bone laying her down.

"She ain't looking to good Doc."

"She might still be mutating. Or lack of food. Her breathing suggests that she has a high metabolism. She burns though everything and if there's nothing the body will take from itself." They looked over as Razor came in, his eyes almost bugging out from the sight in front of him. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but this wasn't it.

"Right, so you can fix this, right?" T-Bone asked, looking back to the Doctor as Razor walked over slowly.

"Yes. I'm going to take samples as well in case any others like this show up." He walked over taking blood, skin and hair samples, Roxie snarling and snapping but fell back to the table every time she tried to rise. Dr. Zyme injected her with a clear liquid, watching as her eyes closed, her breathing slowly.

"From what I can see, the mutating chemical compounds he used is not perfect and shes beginning to break down. Its a good thing you found her when you did." He wheeled the cart over to a room with large vents and sealed the door. He walked over to the Swat Kats, hands behind his back. "It'll be a few days before anything will happen. Come back then."

The duo looked at one another before Razor spoke up. "I'll stay with her if that's alright." The Doctor looked at them raising an eyebrow.

"I wasn't aware you became a trio." T-Bone and Razor blinked, looking confused.

"No, just a promise to her family." The doctor nodded quickly and walked away to begin analyzing the samples. They looked at each other, T-Bone giving a tired smile. Razor squeezed his shoulder and walked over to the large window looking into the room. Inside he could see Roxie had slipped off the table and was stalking around the room, sniffing the air. She slowly turned her head toward Razor, saliva dripping to the ground and charged the glass, slamming into it.

Razor jumped back, watching her going nuts trying to get though to him, her long talons leaving long scratches in the glass. Razor swallowed, hoping the Doctor would find the anti-mutagen soon.

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T-Bone watched Roxie through the glass, now badly clawed from her repeated attempts to get through it. Razor stood next to him. It had been a week since they had brought her there. The only time she was calm was when she slept or when T-Bone was within sight.

"I think she has a crush on you bud." Razor chuckled, glancing at his partner.

"I think...I think it's because of what happen when I was mutated. Like she can smell it on me. She calmed down when Viper had her locked up in his lab. She smelled me and was fine. Hell, she killed Viper."

"Yea, about that. Callie told me Feral found that room with the bodies, but not Viper. There was a destroyed lab room and blood, but no Viper." Razor watched T-Bone clench his hand.

"So that bastard's still alive some how. Damn it." Roxie looked up from her corner, growling, her teeth bared like she understood what they were talking about.

"Your friends theory about why she's calm could be valid." They turned seeing Dr. Zyme walking over, a canister in his hands. "I believe we also have whats needed to reverse her mutation." He opened the door where food was passed through and rolled it in, closing the door. "This should work."

Roxie walked over to the canister, batting it gently when it suddenly began shooting out gas. She roared as it quickly filled the room, smashing into the glass, trying to break free. T-Bone went up to the glass, putting a hand on it. She watched him then charged the other side of the room, roaring. After awhile the roars turned into screams, the sound of bones moving could be faintly heard outside the room.

Dr. Zyme looked at the two Swat Kats, both ready to move at a moments notice. A female assistant brought over a lab coat. T-Bone took it as the gas began to vent from the room. They heard the door unlock, both going in quickly. Looking around, T-Bone found Roxie laying in a corner, curled up. Walking over carefully, he kneeled down, putting the lab coat over her. Razor walked over as T-Bone picked her up.

"She's OK." Razor relaxed, brushing the hair away from her face. T-Bone Looked down at her, seeing how tired she looked and walked out of the room with her. One of the assistants checked her pulse, making a few notes.

"We're going to take her home to her family, let her sleep. She'll be comfortable there." Dr. Zyme looked ready to argue but left it alone from the look on the larger Swat Kats face. He nodded instead and walked to a cabinet, coming back with a few bottles.

"These will help with the pain she will have, this will help get her bones back up to strength and this will help her sleep." He handed then to Razor and watched them heading for the roof exit. He walked back to his notes, looking the data over and sat. Glancing over, he picked up a worn photo frame, looking sadly at the people in the photo. "Pervis, what are you trying to do now."

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The flight home was, thankfully, uneventful. Razor flew as T-Bone held onto Roxie. She groaned as they changed into their garage uniforms, both looking over. Chance carefully picked her up again, climbing up into the kitchen, Jake following behind.

"Should we put her up in her room?" Jake shook his head.

"My rooms on this floor. Put her in my bed and I can take the couch. I'll be able to hear her if she needs anything once she wakes up." Chance nodded and walks to Jake's room, noting it was a lot cleaner then his room and nudged the blankets back, laying her down. Pulling back his heart went into his throat when he saw her eyes open, still the same from when she was a mutant. Yellow and slitted, cold and calculating. He blinked seeing they were their normal color of green-gray.

"How did..." She winced as she moved, Chance putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax. Sleep and we'll take when you're better." He stood as she nodded and went to leave the room, then looked back. "That Swat Kat, T-Bone. He said if you wanted to talk, he'd listen." He walked out, closing the door most of the way.

Roxie rolled onto her side slowly, trying to ignore the pain and curled up tightly. She went to put a hand to her face and stopped, looking at it and began to shake, burying her head in Jake's pillows and began to cry, gripping the pillow tightly.


	6. Chapter 6

Jake's ears twitched around midnight. It had been a week since they had brought Roxie home and they had rarely seen her. He wasn't sure if she had even eaten anything they had cooked in that time. He cracked an eye open, seeing Roxie leaving his room, wearing an over sized white tee and shorts. She made her way into the kitchen, turning the tap on.

He stood, making enough noise for her to hear him and walked to the door way. She looked over at him, looking tired. Her hair was going in every direction, falling over her shoulders in curls and knots. He shifted awkwardly as she watched him and leaned on the door frame.

"How are you feeling. You haven't taken any of the pain pills. I have them on the table in you need them." She shook her head.

"I was always taught pain made you stronger. Army dad and all. I'm sorry I let the paper work pile up." She leaned against the counter, looking at the glass of water in her hand. They both looked up hearing footsteps coming from the second floor as Chance came down to see who was up. He was happy to see Roxie up finally and twisted the dimmer switch turning the lights on low.

"Don't worry about it Runt. The paper work can wait or I can make Jake do it." He grabbed a drink from the fridge, then took a few plates out. "I also know you didn't eat today, at all. You're going to eat now so you don't keel over at your desk when you do get back to work." He reheated a few things, putting them on the table then looked at Roxie crossing his arms.

She raised an eyebrow at him. When he didn't budge she walked to the table sitting. She watched them sit on either side of her before putting some food on a plate. She felt better when they started eating as well, relaxing.

For the first time since she came home, she felt better. Stopping for a moment, she wondered when she began thinking of this place as home. She still felt like a bit of an outsider with them, but Chance seemed to be trying to make an effort now. She went back to eating, knowing Jake would make a fuss that she had stopped. In truth, she didn't want to go back to sleep. The dreams she was having were so vivid, it was sickening.

She was also going to tell Chance she wanted to talk to T-Bone. How he was going to relay the message was beyond her unless they had a spot light signal or something. And it wasn't like she could go up to the Deputy Mayor and ask to borrow her communicator. She rolled her eyes at that thought. A sudden twing of pain had her gripping her fork, her appetite not gone and set the silverware down.

Chance and Jake both looked up at her, worried, as she began breathing slowly, riding out the pain. Jake took her glass as Chance rubbed her back and refilled it, adding a few drops to it and came back to the table. Roxie took it, drinking slowly as the pain faded and smiled at him.

They both watched as the sedative worked quickly, Chance catching her as she slowly went to the side and picked her up. "I hate doing that to her." Chance looked over his shoulder as he walked into Jake's room and laid her back down.

"We have to, now for another reason. So she can get some sleep. You and I both know she's having nightmares and wouldn't ask us for help." Jake came to stand next to Chance as they looked down at the sleeping woman before they both went back to the living room. Chance began clearing the table as Jake washed the dishes.

"This is our fault." Chance said as he put a plate back down, putting his hands on the back of a chair. "If we had went with her, or gone ourselves like always, she wouldn't have gone through that, become that thing." Jake turned, surprised.

"We didn't know Viper was out there, or that rest stop was a trap. It still would have happen."

"Yea, but we can deal with him, we would have been able to take him out." Jake walked up next to him, worried.

"It's not like you sent her there for this to happen. Why are you taking this so personally? I'm beyond pissed off to and I want to tear him a new one, but we can't let this get to us."

"Why? Because I went though this! I was turned into a mutant frog for Kats sake and I know the pain she went though is a hell of a lot worse then what I did. Who knows what else he did in the few days he had her. And I know I remember everything." He gripped the back of he chair, breathing hard. He had been lucky, having not hurt anyone in the short time he was a mutant.

Jake watched his friend, having never really talked to him about that day. So much had happened with Viper becoming a towering monster and Chance never bringing it up beyond him learning how to swim. He knew that the scars from the worm's bite was still there but that was all. He felt guilty about it now, wishing he had been able to help then. He watched Chance walk back into the room Roxie was currently using and followed.

Chance pulled the small oval personal communicator out of his pocket, putting it in her hand and a note under her head before pulling the blankets back up around her. Jake watched and sighed softly, leaving the rest of the dishes for the morning and went back to his couch. He heard Chance going back upstairs a few minutes later.

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Roxie sat at her desk after a few more days of putting it off. Jake's "filing" system consisted on putting them in a draw after filling them out, instead of the filing cabinet, which meant she had a ton of work ahead of her to keep her distracted. Around lunch she looked around, then opened the top draw, taking out the note she had found a few nights ago. Rereading it, she took out the small object that had been in her hand, running her thumb over the smooth surface.

The note was from the larger Swat Kat and she planned on taking him up on the offer to talk that night. She had moved back up to her top floor room the day before so going past Jake wasn't the problem. The stairs were creaky as hell so she would have to sneak down and out, something she hadn't done since she was in high school.

Hearing the shop door open she put the note and comm away, smiling as they walked in, covered in grease and grime. They stopped talking about what ever topic they were discussing when they saw her and smiled back. She had a feeling they were talking about her but ignored it.

"What do you feel like eating." Chance asked as Jake grabbed the one folder he did use, which was full of menus. Roxie shrugged and leaned back in her chair. They continued looking at menus when the main door opened. Looking over Roxie saw it was the Deputy Mayor, looking like she was dressed for a benefit. She rolled her eyes when both males all but dropped the menus, going over to her.

Roxie was fine with her figure, liking her curves. But with a reaction like that, she couldn't help being a little annoyed. No one had ever reacted that way when she came into a room. She credited it with her being on the Enforcers, giving her the "butch"stigma. Picking up a Chinese food menu, she scanned the pages, trying to ignore the idiots her coworkers had turned into.

Callie smiled when she saw Jake and Chance were both in the office of the garage when she walked in. Her car had given out again and was going to be late for yet another of the Mayors benefit lunches. He seemed to be on a never ending quest to impress the Mao's and it was beginning to become costly. As she described the problem to them she glanced up, seeing the new edition. She had been ranted at by Feral one day when she had asked how the tank gunner had been after the court house incident. The treatment had seemed harsh but knew Feral had a literal zero tolerance policy when it came to what he deemed a screw up and his image.

She was surprised that the woman seemed annoyed that she was there and ignored them completely by looking at a lunch menu. At this moment she would trade places with her to get out of her own lunch plans.

"We'll have your car up and running in no time Miss. Briggs. Just relax here with Roxie and we'll tow and fix your car." She smiled at Chance as he said this, watching them both leave and turned back to the only other person in the room. The silence stretched on after they left, leaving Callie uncomfortable. Flicking a nonexistent piece of lint off her dress, she looked back up and walked to the desk.

"Hi, I'm guessing your Roxie." She felt like a moron as soon as she said that, the woman finally looking up at her, putting down the menu.

"You would be correct Deputy Mayor. Can I get you some coffee?" She stood as she said this, walking over to a table in the back.

"Yes, please. And please call me Callie. I'm sure you'll see a lot of me, my cars always breaking down but I love that old clunker." She smiled when Roxie came back, handing her a cup. Inhaling the aroma, she sighed happily and took a sip. "I'm guessing you took over the coffee brewing."

"Had to. They burn the crap out of it other wise." Callie relaxed when Roxie finally smiled. She took a seat in front of the desk as Roxie resumed her seat behind it. "So, big date?" Callie sipped her coffee before replying.

"No, the Mayor is throwing a lunch for investors to try and get MegaKat Tower rented out."

"That place is cursed. Every time you finish repairing it, I have to blow a hole in it to save the city." Callie blinked, looking at her before both women stared laughing. That was how Jake and Chance found them when they returned with Callie's car.

"I swear I had never seen Feral so mad. I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head until his nose started to bleed." Callie wiped her eyes, imagining that. Roxie laughed with her. "He never let me near a rocket launcher again after that." Roxie almost fell out of her seat laughing and Callie leaned on the desk.

Chance chuckled before walking into the garage, Jake following, smiling. They began working on the car, listening to the laughter coming from the next room. "It's good to see her laugh. I thought she was going to take Callie's head when we left them alone." Chance nodded in agreement.

An hour later they walked back in, seeing Roxie and Callie both eating Chinese food. Roxie looked over at them, seeing their lost looks before motioning to the bag on the back table where their food waited. Chance walked past, ruffling her hair, earning a growl from Roxie as she tried to fix her hair.

"You should be good to go Miss. Briggs. We'll send you the bill." Jake smiled, blushing lightly when she smiled back at him and stood, putting her left overs in a bag.

"Thanks guys, I'll see you later. You too Roxie." She waved as she walked out, her car pulling away a few minutes later. Chance sat in Callie's seat, Jake pulling over another office chair. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Jake leaned back in his chair.

"You guys seem to get along. You were having a ball in here." Roxie shrugged, sipping her soda.

"Just trading Feral stories. I'm sure you guys have a few good ones." She smirked, Chance noticing her canine teeth were still more pointed then before. Jake thought for a few moments, then began telling her about their training days.

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It was late when Roxie finally heard Jake go to bed. She grabbed her combat boots, slipping down the stairs. She tried her best to skip the steps that squeaked the worst and make it to the kitchen. Pulling her boots on she went outside, going to the furthest part of the scrap yard, sitting on one of the car hoods there. Taking out the comm she ran her thumb over it again before hitting the button, waiting.

Chance was relaxing in bed, looking at one of his magazines when the small tablet on his night stand came to life, showing a blip in the far end of the yard. Raising an eyebrow he grabbed it, then checked Roxie's room. Finding her gone he smirked, before going to the hanger, changing into his uniform and slipping out into the night.

Roxie kicked a stone, looking at her watch. Sighing she laid back, looking up at the stars. It was a clear night for once allowing the full beauty of the night sky to be seen. It was something you never saw in the city with all the light pollution. She sat up quickly when she heard someone in front of her.

T-Bone chuckled when he saw her bolt up. "Relax, just me Miss. Bell." He walked over, sitting next to her.

"Just Roxie. Thank you, for saving me." She traced a few lines in the dirt on the hood of the car, not sure how to start. After a few moments she glanced sideways at him. "Does it get easier?" The smirk slipped of T-Bones face as he looked at the ground.

"It does. The pain stops and you don't have the urges anymore. It'll probably last longer with you but it will end. The dreams are another thing." He looked over when he felt her take his helmet off, seeing she was tracking the damaged part on the back from where it hit the floor and from where the chemicals had eaten away at it.

"I remember everything, like it just happened an hour ago." She said quietly, setting the helmet on her lap. "He kept..." She closed her eyes tightly. T-Bone put a hand on her shoulder. He realized what they had been seeing was a front, a convincing one. "He kept injecting chemicals into me and taking samples. I wanted to die. I did a few times I think. He kept bringing me back."

She opened her eyes, looking out into the yard. Tears ran down her face. She was startled when she was suddenly pulled against a hard chest, arms going around her. T-Bone hugged her tightly, feeling her finally break down and cry into his chest. He knew she was strong, never doubted it and would never hold this against her.

He also knew she would never open up to himself or Jake, but a Swat Kat was a different story. They had become a symbol of safety and knew she would open up, from being the one who saved her, and from having it happen personally. He moved the helmet off her lap and pulled her onto his, holding her there.

"I'm sorry I failed you. This shouldn't have happened and I will try to never let it happen again." He looked down when he felt her shake her head.

"It's not your fault. You had no idea where he was, no one did." She wiped her eyes before yawning, resting her head on his shoulder. "I felt safe with you, when you saved me. I don't want to think about if you didn't find me when you did." She listened to his heart beat, closing her eyes. After a few minutes T-Bone looked down as best he could, seeing she had fallen asleep. He waited a few minutes before starting back to the building. Jake looked over when he walked in, doing a double take when he saw Chance in his Swat Kat uniform, carrying Roxie.

T-Bone motioned for him to be quiet before going up to Roxie's room. He saw it looked almost the same as when they helped her set it up and laid her down, covering her with her blankets. He was met with a worried looking Jake when he came back down, the two heading into the hanger.

"She used the comm?" T-Bone nodded and grabbed a buffing rag, walking to the Turbo Kat.

"Yea, we talked. She's got a lot to work though, and I'm going to help her. He did more to her then she'll tell anyone normally." T-Bone began to work over the Turbo Kat with the cloth. Jake watched before grabbing his own cloth and walked to the other side of the jet.

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A few nights later Roxie was getting ready for bed. Her new sheets were due any day including a down comforter and pillows. She finished brushing out her hair, thinking about dyeing it a new color and flipped it back, looking up in the mirror. She screamed covering her mouth and moved back, bumping into her dresser. Walking back to her mirror she blinked, touching around her eyes then touching the mirror.

She was sure they had been yellow a moment ago, just like when she had been that thing. Everything was normal now, as it should be. Backing away, she ran her hands over her face, fatigue catching up to her. Sleep had been a hard thing to achieve some times, and others she didn't even remember how she got to bed.

She wondered if she should take the sleep aid that the Doctor had given the Swat Kats for her. But she had no idea where it was, Jake did. She wondered for a moment if Jake had been slipping her the medication then shook her head. "He'd never do that." She took her earrings off and laid down. The building around her was silent, save for the sound of crickets, a mouse she swore lived in her wall and the faint sound of an alarm.

Siting up she strained to hear where it was coming from and walked to the window opening it. The sound had faded more when she stuck her head outside, frowning. "So its forming for down stairs? Maybe a car alarm went off in the garage." She closed the window and walked to her door opening it looking down the dark staircase. A thud sounded from the kitchen but the noise itself had stopped.

Grabbing a metal bat, she moved down the steps carefully, thinking perhaps someone had broken in. Getting to the landing she looked down the hall leading to Chances room, seeing the door closed. She kept going down entering the kitchen. The house was quiet and dark, the only light coming from the dim glow o the coffee machine. The shop was locked up and dark. Moving into the living room she turned on a light, setting the bat down.

"I'm going insane, I really am." She tied her hair back flopping on the couch and rested her head back. The room started to shake suddenly followed by the sound of a jet taking off. "The hell is that!" Almost falling off the couch she ran to the window, seeing nothing. Going to Jake's room she was surprised he hadn't come running out already and knocked, opening the door.

Looking around she found the bed had the covers thrown back but no sign of Jake. Going back to the stairs in the kitchen she found Chance hadn't come down either. Going up to his door she didn't bother knocking and went in. His room was the same as it always was. Clothes were thrown around the hamper, the bed unmade but no sign of him. "The hell is going on!" She turned going back to the main floor and checked the garage. The tow truck was still on the lift, the temp car was still outside where Jake had parked it earlier.

Going back inside she growled and flopped on the couch, crossing her arms. "Someone is going to tell me whats going on around here." She turned on the TV seeing the news was covering a break in at the museum. Ann Gora was reporting as always.

"This is Ann Gora, Kats Eye News. It appears the Past Master has resurfaced inside the Museum of Ancient History. It's unknown at this time what he is after but it looks as if the Swat Kats have arrived to stop him."


End file.
